"The Chronicle of the Roman Republic examines the succession of kings, consuls, and tribunes who took Rome from a small fortified hilltop to the greatest empire of antiquity. Here we meet the builders of Rome - superstitious, brutal and utterly uncompromising, but often men of great honour and principle. Astonishingly, such men created one of the most civilized societies in the ancient world - a Republic ruled by elected executives whose power was checked by a constitution so well crafted that it inspired the founding fathers of the United States of America." "The Chronicle of the Roman Republic describes 57 of the foremost Romans of the Republic, spanning the centuries from its birth to its bloody death. In this history we see the best and worst of the Roman elite. Some, such as Tarquin the Proud, Julius Caesar and Pompey, are well known. Others are less familiar - men like Licinius Crassus, a kind father and loving husband, who crucified captured slaves in their thousands; or Cato the Censor, upright and incorruptible, xenophobic and misogynistic."--Jacket.